I can hear my new wood-wick candle as it pops and cracks its pumpkin scent into the living room. I love these candles and have been looking forward to getting one (or two) at the fall street festival. This cool, rainy day seemed perfect for settling in with a book, something hot to drink, and of course the candle. That's not what I did, but it would have been nice.
Instead we spent a good part of the afternoon and evening processing (really, just cutting up) a bunch of chickens that were wondering around a farm just up the road this morning. Tonight they are in our freezer. Brian does most of the work. I just bag up the parts and stick them in the freezer. Lucy had two things to say about this chicken business.
One; "Where are their faces?"
Two: "Ewww..."
Still makes me laugh.
In between chicken sessions we went to a little birthday party. Virginia Tech won in overtime. I've got some new music downloaded from Red Mountain. And it's almost bedtime.
It's been a good day.
Books on my nightstand: Winter's Bone and Fahrenheit 451
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Beach Scenes
Pretty beach scenes
Supermoon over the Atlantic
Love the beach sky
Lucy's footprint
One of my favorite scenes at the beach, knowing what's just on the other side of the steps
Summer Recap in Pictures Begins
I am so far behind on summer pictures so I think I will just do some collages from different things we did over the past few months. Let's start with Redskins training camp in Richmond.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Friday Wrap-Up
It feels like fall! I love this cool breeze coming in through the windows. It makes those pumpkin spice M&Ms a friend gave me taste even better!
Brian and Jack have headed back to the Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory in West Virginia. This is the third or fourth year they've gone. Jack keeps a log every year so it's fun to compare the numbers of birds they see each time.
This week has been a pretty good one as far as school goes. Most days are bumpy- some have fewer bumps than others.
We are studying the sun this week. The kids made a pin hole viewing box so that we could observe an image of the sun. You can see the small circle in the first picture. Sometimes you can see dark spots in the circle which are sun spots. We didn't see those but did see a solar flare. I think it's pretty amazing that you can observe these things in a box.
We also used a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun's rays and burn holes in leaves, a blade of grass, and a piece of paper. All with parental supervision, of course! This was a hit.
This week Sammy did a lot with "The Three Little Pigs." He had a great time retelling the story and using his deepest voice for the wolf. We've also read several caterpillar books since we are waiting for our butterflies to pop out. Should be any day now. It's hard not to stare at the chrysalids all day, watching for any movement.
It was apple week at preschool. Lucy is enjoying preschool once she gets there and gets settled in. There are still some tears at drop-off time but she always has good things to say when she gets home.
Brian and Jack have headed back to the Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory in West Virginia. This is the third or fourth year they've gone. Jack keeps a log every year so it's fun to compare the numbers of birds they see each time.
This week has been a pretty good one as far as school goes. Most days are bumpy- some have fewer bumps than others.
We are studying the sun this week. The kids made a pin hole viewing box so that we could observe an image of the sun. You can see the small circle in the first picture. Sometimes you can see dark spots in the circle which are sun spots. We didn't see those but did see a solar flare. I think it's pretty amazing that you can observe these things in a box.
We also used a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun's rays and burn holes in leaves, a blade of grass, and a piece of paper. All with parental supervision, of course! This was a hit.
This week Sammy did a lot with "The Three Little Pigs." He had a great time retelling the story and using his deepest voice for the wolf. We've also read several caterpillar books since we are waiting for our butterflies to pop out. Should be any day now. It's hard not to stare at the chrysalids all day, watching for any movement.
It was apple week at preschool. Lucy is enjoying preschool once she gets there and gets settled in. There are still some tears at drop-off time but she always has good things to say when she gets home.
A favorite of mine from the week: Sam and I have been reading several tales about Robin Hood. In math he needed to make up a story for 6-2=4. His story: Prince John had 6 pieces of gold. Robin Hood took 2 for the poor. How many pieces of gold did Prince John have left?
Some more of what we're reading this week:
Kayla: The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit. She loves it!
Jack: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight retold by J.R.R. Tolkein This one is a little tough so he and I are reading it out loud together.
Me: A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley A mystery- so far so good.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Some School HIghlights
I noticed Friday that Kayla and Jack were each on their respective third spelling tests.
Which means we have finished three weeks of school.
Then I realized we are in our seventh year of homeschooling. When I hear of someone who has homeschooled for a long time I assume they have a lot of knowledge and I want to pick their brain.
On my end, I look back and see a lot of things I wish I had done differently or better. It's so hard not to second guess every decision! That's true with anything, I know.
Anyway, here's a look at my favorite school moments from the past week.
*Jack and Kayla are enjoying Latin. I've noticed Kayla seems to be picking it up really quickly- maybe she'll have a natural bent toward languages? And Jack is noticing a lot of the English derivatives from the vocabulary he's learned so far.
*The writing program we've used for a couple of years (IEW) teaches something called Key Word Outlining (KWO). I was talking with Jack about beginning to outline his history reading and he said he could just KWO it. Yes! A skill that's carrying over!
Which means we have finished three weeks of school.
Then I realized we are in our seventh year of homeschooling. When I hear of someone who has homeschooled for a long time I assume they have a lot of knowledge and I want to pick their brain.
On my end, I look back and see a lot of things I wish I had done differently or better. It's so hard not to second guess every decision! That's true with anything, I know.
Anyway, here's a look at my favorite school moments from the past week.
*Jack and Kayla are enjoying Latin. I've noticed Kayla seems to be picking it up really quickly- maybe she'll have a natural bent toward languages? And Jack is noticing a lot of the English derivatives from the vocabulary he's learned so far.
*The writing program we've used for a couple of years (IEW) teaches something called Key Word Outlining (KWO). I was talking with Jack about beginning to outline his history reading and he said he could just KWO it. Yes! A skill that's carrying over!
*We got some caterpillars early in the week. By Friday one was in a chrysalis. All the kids have had fun watching this process, especially Sam and Lucy. In the first picture Sammy is drawing what he sees. We should have some butterflies in 10 days or less. We did this whole caterpillar/butterfly thing three years ago- you can read here to see what happened then. Hoping for NO repeats!
*I'm reading fairy tales to Sammy and Lucy. That's been fun, too. In the second picture, Sam is using some props to retell "The Three Billy Goats Gruff."
*Louisa May Alcott's Jack and Jill is our current read-aloud. So good!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
First Day of Preschool
I am having a hard time keeping up with blogging. Not for lack of material- I'm afraid so much of that is passing right through my brain. There are just so many other things to do.
Today was a big day at our house, though.
Lucy became the first (and last) Waters kid to go to preschool.
I think overall it went pretty well. She didn't see my tears and apparently I didn't see hers, either. She was really trying to be brave when she told me that she did cry some after I left.
After we picked her up, she told us a few things she liked about it but then she said, "I don't know about going back to preschool, Mom."
Hoping tomorrow morning she's a little more inclined towards it...
Today was a big day at our house, though.
Lucy became the first (and last) Waters kid to go to preschool.
I think overall it went pretty well. She didn't see my tears and apparently I didn't see hers, either. She was really trying to be brave when she told me that she did cry some after I left.
After we picked her up, she told us a few things she liked about it but then she said, "I don't know about going back to preschool, Mom."
Hoping tomorrow morning she's a little more inclined towards it...
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